Conanicut Island Lighthouse

Year Built

1886

Cost

$18,000

Type

Square without lantern

Height

47 feet

Location

Jamestown

Automated Year

1933

First Lit

1886

Lens Type

Earlier optic: Fifth-order Fresnel lens - Present optic: None

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

1933

Color

REd w/white trim

Last Keeper - Date

Elmer V. Newton (1914 – 1932)

Description

The tower is still stand along with 1897 barn, 1901 oil house, 1907 fog signal building.

Brief History

•  In 1882 a petition for a government lighthouse on the northern tip of Conanicut Island was started.
•  The square light tower is attached to a wooden, eight-room, two-story, keeper’s dwelling whose Gothic Revival influences include a steeply pitched roof and a delicate wood trim.
•  By the early 1930s, it was decided that the amount of ship traffic passing the northern end of the island did not justify the cost of a manned lighthouse, and Conanicut Island Lighthouse was deactivated in 1933 and its lantern and lens removed.
•  It was extinguished during World War II so it couldn't be used as an aid to navigation by German U-boats.
•  Conanicut Lighthouse was sold at auction in 1934 for $2,874.